Plastic stock manipulating apparatus



Aug. 29, 1933. F J, acb N LD 1,924,210

PLASTIC STOCK MANIPULATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 15, 1951 Patented Aug. 29, 1933 UNITED sfm'rEs "PLASTIC STOCK 3 .MANIPULATING 'APPA- RATUS, 1

Frank j."MacDonald, -Brookline, Mass;, assignor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York,

N; Y., a Corporation Application August 15,

13 Claims.

tion that it possesses insufiicient cohesion to bedrawn evenly between the rolls from a mass of the stock banked in the bight of the rolls without the application of feeding pressuretto the stock from behind.

In the prior practice it has been common to prod the stock manually into the bight of'the rolls, this procedure having the disadvantage of 1 being dependent upon the skill and diligence of the'operator for uniformity of feed, with the likelihood of injury to the operators hands, and it has been diflicult to avoid entirely the formation of objectionable thin'spots or other malformations in the rolled stock resulting from unevenness in the feed. I

Chief among the objects of the invention are'to provide compact and efficient apparatus for feedv ing the stock into the bight of the rolls with substantial uniformity inthe rate of feed, with the application of substantially uniform feeding pressure along the bight, and with safety to the operator. 3 u

These and further objects will be, apparent from the following description,-reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of apparatus embody? ing the invention, parts being broken away.

1 1, parts being broken away.

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawing the invention is shown in a preferred form as applied to a calender for forming rubber stock, indicated at A, into a sheet B, and for applying the sheeted stock onto'a fabric backing C. The calender itself, which is of common construction, comprises a pair of side frames, oneof which is shown at 10, and cooperating rolls 11, 12'and 13 same in the bight of the' rolls 11 an'd'12, as

shown, and the calenderedsheet is 'fed around for rotation on an axis spaced from and parallel to the axes of the calender rolls. The crank shaft is driven by any suitable means, such as the sprocket chain 16 connecting a sprocket secured to the crank shaft with a sprocket rotatable with the calender roll 12. u

The crank shaft is provided with two sets of Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.

rotatable on horizontal axes between the side frames. The stock is introduced by banking the.

of New-York Y 1931. Serial No. 557,338 (01. 18-2)' cranks, the cranks 17a, 17a of one set being in axialalignment with each other. and being ar.' ranged" in alternation longitudinally of with thecra nks 17b, 17b of the other set which likewise are aligned with each other. 'Thetwo sets of cranks are 'arrangedangularly of each other, preferably at 180, for a purpose to be explained presently.

A plurality of r'eciprocable members 18, 18 of identical, construction are journalled at their rear'ends on the cranks 17a, 17b, each preferably by means of an open .slot 19in thepusher mem-, ber capped by a plate 20 for ready detachabilityt Each pusher member is formed at itsforward end with a forwardly. tapered stock-engaging,

nose 21 which at its leading edge is laterally broad and is preferably, somewhat blunt as shown'in 21a to afford a surface engageable with the bottom of the bank of stock toipress this portion of the stock forwardly toward the bightof the rolls as the pusher member is advanced. a. The arrangement issuch that in the'extreme. advanced position of the pusher member, its nose is sufficiently:

f 1,924,210, A ENT *OFl-ICEY.

the shaft spaced from the bight and from the surface of' the upper rollhll to permit ample flow of the stock and'continuity thereof above and in ad-- Vance of the 'nose for'efiicientcalendering. The sloping bottomvsurface of the nose of each pusher member rests against and slides to a limited extent circumferentially over the curved. surface member, thereby causinga rising and descending movement to be imparted to the forward end of the member as itis reciprocated' A plurality V of upwardly projecting and forwardly inclined stock-'engagingteeth. 22, 22 are provided on'ntheupper forward portion of each member, :these teeth, by their forwardlinclination, being adapted to press the stock forward during advance of' the recip'rocable pusher-member and to bereleased from the stock during the rearward movement of the member. 1 Y i I It is not'lessential in all cases that the noses of the pusher members be positioned very close together along'the roll, as in the case T of stocks of sufficient cohesion thecrowding of'the stock into the bight of the rolls by each member'causes a feeding pressure'which is not limited in extent to the breadth of the member and for most rubber- V stocks a-generous gap is permitted between the noses of adjacent members, as indicated at 23, 23

in Fig.2, without detrimentally affectingthe uniformity of thickness of the' calendere'd stock.

Inoperation, thecrankshaft 15 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 causing the pusher members 18 to be reciprocated toward and awayfrom the bight of-the rolls. During its advancing stroke, each member is caused by the upward throw of the crank at its rear end and by the sliding of the nose of the member upwardly oflthe calender roll 12 during reciprocation of the 2 on the; curved surface of the'roll 12 to be bodily raised into engagement of its nose 21, its upper surface, and its teeth 22 withthe stock, as the of most rubber stocka being sufficient to transmit to the sliding of the nose downwardly over the.

curved surface of the roll, and the stock is temporarily freed from the nose, upper surface, and.

teeth of the member. Owing to the 180 disposition of thetwo sets of cranks, and their alternate arrangement, the pusher members of the two sets j re caused to reciprocate in alternation and there by to assist one another in becoming freed from,

the stock during their rearward and downward movementof retraction. While each member re tracts, the member next adjacent thereto is advancing and rising to push the stock toward the rolls and thus awayfrom the adjacent retracting member, the cohesion of the stock, as in the case the feeding pressure of the advancing member laterally to a sufficient extent to restrain the stock opposite the adjacent retracting member from being pulled backward objectionably e While it has been found that some rubber stocks possess sufiicient cohesion to cause the stock to be drawn evenly into sheet form from a bank of the stock placed in the bight of the rolls without the necessity of much prodding of thestock from behind, yet many stock s, particularly those heavily laden with pigments, fibrous material: and the V like, do not possess this characteristic to adegree requisite for evendrawing and require repeated prodding from behind, and it will be seen that the invention is particularly useful in connection with the calendering of such.stocks.- e Variations may bev made without departing from the scope'of thelinvention as it is defined in the following claims.

lIclaim': -e

1. Apparatus formanipulating plastic stock comprising a'pair' of stool; rolling elements and means for feeding stock intot'he bight between said elements comprisinga stock engaging and supporting member mounted for reciprocation toward and away from said'bight. 'i l l 1 2.- Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising a pair of opposed stock rolling ele-- ments and means for feeding stock into the bight between said elements comprisin'ga stock engage 7 ing member and means for moving said member in'contact of-its leading end portion'with one of the elements toward and iawayfrom the bight of said elements.-

7 q 3, Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising a pair of opposed stock manipulating elements and means for feeding stock into the vbight between said elements comprising a mem ber. mounted for, reciprocation toward and away from the bight of said elements andhaving a .ta- I bersfor reciprocating the same 1n alternation pered stock engagingnose.

and away from the bight of said .4. Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising a pair of opposed stock rolling ele- I ments and means for feeding stock into the bight between said elements comprising a pair of stock engaging membersin contact of their leading end portions with one of said elements, and-means for reciprocating said-members in alte'rnationtoward and away from the big'nt of said elements.

,5. Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising a pair of opposed stock rolling elements and means for feeding stock into the bight between said elements-comprising a stock engaging member and means for reciprocating said ,member toward-and away from said bight and transverse movement to the,

for imparting a member.

6. Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising a pairof opposed stockrolling elements, one of which has a cylindrical surface, and means for feeding stock intothe bight between said elements comprisinga stock engaging member. resting against said cylindrical surface andlmeans for reciprocating said member toward elements in sliding-engagement with said surface. Y

y 7. Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising a pair of opposed stock rolling elements andrmeans for feeding stock into therbight between said elements comprising a member having at its forward end a stock en aging portion in contact-with one of said elements andmeans rearward of said portion; for reciprocating said member in a direction toward and away from the bi ht of said elements while oscillating the rear-,

Ward portion of the member transversely thereof.

- 8. Apparatus for. manipulating plastic stock comprising apair of opposed stock rolling elements, one of which has a cylindrical surface, means for feeding stock into the bight between said elements comprising a stock engaging member having a-portion resting against said cylindrical surface, and means comprisinga crank forreciprocating the member toward and away from thebight of said elements in slidingengagement with said surface. 7

9. Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising upper and lower stock rolling elements,

and meansjfor feedingstock into the bight jbetween said elements comprising a pair of stool: engaging members and means for advancing and elevating one of said members toward the bight' of said elements and for imparting at thesame;

time'a retractingand descending movement to the other member away from said bight. v

10. Apparatus as -defined in claim 9 in which the means for moving the stock engaging mem bers comprisesapair of cranksengaging the'same 11. Apparatus as defined in claim loin which the stock engagingmembers are provided their upper 'surfaceswith forwardly inclined stock en gaging teeth. 7 v

V 12,. Apparatus .as defined in claim 10 in which 7 the advancing stock engagingmember is adapted to present a stockengagingsurface sloping dcwnwardly toward the bight of the'rolls. 1'.

- '13. Apparatus for manipulating plastic stock comprising upper and lower cylindrical rolls and means for feeding stock into thelbight between said rolls comprising a pair of' stock engaging members eachresting against the cylindrical surface of the lower roll and meansvcomprising a pair of angularly disposed cranks engaging said mem- FRANK JQ AcDoNALnl CERTlFiCATE 0F (IORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,924,210.

August 29, 1933.

FRANK J. MacDONALD.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification oi the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2-, lines 12) and [33. claims 11 and 12, respectively, for the claim number "10" read 9; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may onform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of December, A. D. 1933.

Richard Spencer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patente. 

